Returning men to the moon is not a trip back in time, although images of Artemis II evoke nostalgia for Apollo 8, the framework supporting this new effort is radically different. For Dr. Gustavo Medin Tank, an astrophysicist and leader in space technology, we are witnessing the emergence of an ecosystem that will turn the Moon into Earth’s “eighth continent,” driven by a technological revolution that has broken down barriers to space.
Cheaper, faster, bolder
The driving force behind this new era is the reusability of launchers, Medina explains in his talk, “Return to the Moon: Humanity’s Future in Space.” For decades, going into space was like “buying a transatlantic airliner and destroying it after one flight.” Today, when rockets land vertically so they can be reused, costs have dropped 100-fold, and in some cases even 1,000-fold.
Added to this is miniaturization and standardization. “Previously, the fear of failure made us use technologies three or four generations ago; it was like choosing the iPhone 8 over the iPhone 14 because of the fear of failure,” explains Medina Tanko. Today, cost reduction allows for increased margin for error. If the mission is 100 times cheaper, innovative ideas can be tried: if the first one fails, you try a fourth or fifth time, and the process is still more profitable and faster than the traditional model.
This democratization shifted the center of gravity of large state institutions to the side Las startups and academies. Innovation, according to the expert, grows exponentially with the number of minds working on the problem. Whereas in the Apollo missions companies were just screw-up contractors, in the Artemis era it was companies who decided what to do, how to market it, and how to create independent orbital services.
The infrastructure of tomorrow
The most telling thing is that the lunar economy will not be limited to the surface of our satellite, but will begin in the orbit of the Earth with In-Orbit Service (services in orbit). For example, space refueling stations, since satellites that today are ejected due to lack of fuel can be recharged; factories in microgravity where companies like Varda space o Axiom space They are already working on the production of biotechnological drugs and high-value nanomaterials that can only be produced without the intervention of Earth’s gravity; or update hardware, i.e. robots capable of changing processors or upgrading ship components in flight, extending their life indefinitely.
One of the most ambitious projects for 2035 is the production of space solar energy. By capturing unobstructed 24/7 sunlight from the atmosphere and transmitting it to Earth using microwave ovens, the goal of “zero carbon footprint” can be achieved. “Whoever controls this $8 trillion business will control the future of civilization,” warns the man who is also in charge of the Space Instrument Laboratory of the Department of High Energy Physics of the National University of Ukraine.
New Challenges: Whose Moon Is This?
Dr. Medina Tanko pauses in the face of so many advances to also raise one of the most important questions. As economic activity around the spacewalk grows, questions of sovereignty and private property become more pressing, what do we have to this day?
- Sovereignty: The Outer Space Treaty of 1967 prohibits any the nation appropriates the Moon. However, the agreements of Artemis introduce the concept of “safety zone”. to protect mining and scientific works.
- Property Private: Although the state cannot own the lunar soil, There is a growing consensus (backed by laws in the US and Luxembourg) which can be owned by companies mined resources (such as water or metals).
- disputes: The legal framework is still fragile. There is no such central authority assign rights or responsibilities, which makes the Moon a a legal border where there will be international cooperation the only way to avoid conflicts.
La Luna vs. Mars
Despite the enthusiasm of figures like Elon Musk to colonize Mars, Medina Tanco is pragmatic: The moon is an economically viable goal. While you can get to the moon in seven days, going to Mars requires 21 months of extremely high risk. Also, Mars lacks a clear business model. “If you want to make a plastic bottle on Mars, you need a whole industrial chain that doesn’t exist, and there are no hydrocarbons because there were no dinosaurs,” he quips.
For a colony to be sustainable, it must produce what the Earth wants to buy. The moon offers helium-3 mining, water as fuel, and a platform for advanced science; At the moment, Mars only offers “Red Earth Eiffel Towers” that no one will pay for.
A new continent on the horizon
Going to the moon today is equivalent to Columbus arriving in America in 1492. At that time, no one in Europe imagined the potential of the new continent; They were too busy with their local wars. Those who did not notice the change, such as the commercial authorities of Genoa or Venice, became museums.
Today, the Moon – with a surface similar to that of Africa – joins the sphere of human influence. Artemis II is the first step in the transition from being visitors to inhabitants of an interconnected Earth-Moon system LunaNet (Solar System Internet) and an economy we are only beginning to measure, concludes the specialist.
To see the full text of the conversation, you can go to the following link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsEzAAo0YJg
